National Blog

Another reason to oppose the National Internet Sales Tax Mandate

Thanks to John Berlau of the Competitive Enterprise Institute for spotlighting how, in addition to raising the price of everything you purchase online and strangling small Internet companies with new regulations, passage of the National Internet Sales Tax Mandate could allow tax-hungry governors to tax your 401 (K):

"How? The bill authorizes states to “require all sellers not qualifying for the small seller exception to collect and remit sales and use taxes with respect to remote sales sourced to that Member State.” Yet “sellers” and “sales” are never specifically defined, and there are no specific exemptions for certain types of products or services.

Financial experts say this means states tax “sales” such as stock trades in a mutual fund or brokerage account, or even contributions to pension plans such as 401(k)s that were designed to be tax-free until retirement.

The American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries, a group of more than 11,000 retirement plan and benefits professionals, warns the bill “would allow states to impose a financial transaction tax that would apply to American workers’ 401(k) contributions and other transactions within worker’s accounts.” The group notes that “over 70 million workers could be affected” by such taxes, which “could significantly reduce workers savings over time, threatening their retirement security.”